"This is not something pilots tend to play fast and loose with. (Flying while intoxicated.) Why would they, with a career hanging in the balance? Violators are subject to immediate, emergency revocation of their pilot certificates."

Perhaps a more poigniant motivation for flying sober would be that, as commerical airline pilots, dozens or even hundreds of lives depend on the quality of their performance.

Patrick,

Given your sluggish reponse to the events alluded to -- for damn good personal reasons - perhaps you should cut some slack for others who were late in hearing the news.

I still have those shows on vhs, and whenever I drag them out, I'm amazed that today's Jay Leno (or Tonight's Jay Leno) is the same person.

I'm hoping that even 10% of the old Leno resurfaces with this clean start.

Steve Allen

Jack Paar

Johnny Carson

Jay Leno

Conan O'Brien

...and it isn't pretty.

Having observed severe alchoholism on both sides of my family, and lost a grandmother to a drunk driver, it was a simple decision for me to not start drinking in the first place.

Of course, rather than receiving a pat on the back for a well-founded, socially responsible decision, I've been an outcast my entire life.

My thinking towards others who drink to excess has evolved over the decades. Where once I felt that alcoholism was a character issue, I learned through education that it is, in fact, a disease.

Then, one day a few years back, I realized that I was right the first time. The "alcoholism is a disease" bit is complete bullshit. People who are predisposed to alcohol (and drug abuse) are self absorbed assholes who would gladly die (and take anyone with them) than not feel a good buzz. The simple fact that so many alcoholics continue to drive under the influence -- even when they know, hours in advance, that they will be in a position where "the only way home" is behind the wheel of an automobile -- proves it.

Right on the money.

We just moved to a rural area about a year ago, after living in a an urban area since 1962. What you stated describes the mind set of the whites in this area perfectly.

I've never watched a minute of Mad Men, because it's too close to me. My father was "one of those guys," albiet not directly in advertising.

As an adolescent I watched and listened as he and his peers chewed over various cultural, technological, racial and male/female issues as they related to their automotive corperation...and knew from an early age they were dead wrong on every point. (They found great glee in mocking women who drove, Volkswagen owners, "queers" with long hair, and "coloreds" who were extended credit, for example.)

For me, "The 60's" was a slow motion train wreck as I watched the inevitable changes displace the post-war boardroom mentality.

"Salon chatted with Streep, who recently turned 60 -- and is as luminous and articulate as ever ... "

I grant you, "luminous" and "age 60" are often at odds, but articulate? What did you think, Kerry? That Meryl would be forgetting who she was talking to, slurring her words, and drooling all over her jello?

Same situation here, but with a twist. My father was the alcoholic, and my mother -- a non-driving, stay-at-home, 50's era mom -- put us in the car with my drunken father nearly everyday.

My mother's culpablility in this drunk driving scenario is nothing short of child abuse...and yet she was a tee totaler who never had a driver's license. This is a statistic that has never been tallied, and it would surely skew the idea that there's a growing trend toward irresponsible behavior in women.

Agree...but have to provide one exception: Punch Drunk Love. Sandler was terrifc in that movie.

Just my opinion...comdey is as subjective as things get.

"...the plane was originally designed, built, and marketed by McDonnell Douglas, not by Boeing, so calling it a "Boeing MD-81" is anathema to most of us."

-- Patrick Smith

By "most of us," you are referring to...who?

I haven't read the article or the letters -- the last piece of crap cured me of GK -- but I submit to you that if indeed this Larry person is a creep, it's BECAUSE his mother devoted her life to him.

...in the Salon coffin.

Top to bottom, this is the best collection of responses in Salon in ages.

One, you haven't "known her for 33 years," you knew her 33 years ago (or something like that.) Big difference.

Two, YOU may have been the angel in this relationship, not the other way around. Don't sell yourself short because you were the less confident of the two of you. Often times innocence and uncertainty are a godsend to someone somehow lacking in both traits.

I dropped into Salon now and again during the Alan Barra era. But it wasn't until you started your sports daily that I became an everyday reader. For me, you galvanized the connection between life, politics and sports just by being there and being yourself. As I've said in the past, it was only Jim Murray who ever captured my imagination in the same way.

Well done.

I see the distinction. My bad.

He did however, spell out windshear as two words...and yet he advised us that:

"...in aviation circles it almost always appears as a single word, sans quotes, and the press should follow suit.